CSS ''Chicora''

By Crusader1307

Built in Charleston, South Carolina in 1862, The Confederate Ironclad Ram "Chicora" weighed 850-tons displaced and was 175-feet long. She stood 35-feet high. Her steam powered engine allowed her a top speed of 6-knots. Crewed by 150-men, "Chicora" was armed with (2) 9-inch Smoothbore Cannon and (4 ) 32-pound Cannon. She was also capable of deploying an 80-pound Spar-Torpedo. As a "mini" Casemate, she was used with great success in bombarding Federal Forces who were slowly but surely retaking Confederate Coastal Forts. CSS "Chicora" is best known to History - for providing the Crew of the Confederacy's first Submersible, The CSS "Hunley". Later (in 1865) to avoid capture, "Chicora" was scuttled and burnt in Charleston Harbor, to prevent her capture by Federal Troops.